# Hayao Miyazaki's movies



## spaekle (Nov 11, 2009)

I'm sure everyone here has at least _heard of_ one of this guy's movies. Totoro, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo, Castle in the Sky... 

So who likes Miyazaki's stuff? Which one's your favorite? I've really been wanting to re-watch a lot of it lately, so I think it's what a majority of my birthday money will go toward. I watched Howl's Moving Castle for the first time recently and loved it. I really need to see Castle in the Sky and Nausicaa. 

(The rest of Studio Ghibli can come too, if you'd like, but I haven't really seen any non-Miyazaki stuff. Grave of the Fireflies is on my to-watch list.)

Discuss!


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## IcySapphire (Nov 11, 2009)

I have seen Princess Mononoke and Ponyo, but Spirited Away is on my must-see list


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## Storm Earth and Fire (Nov 12, 2009)

I've seen Princess Mononoke twice and Spirited Away four times. Princess Mononoke is my favorite. Really do have to see the rest.

Grave of the Fireflies is lovely.


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## Ven (Nov 12, 2009)

I've only seen Princess Mononoke. The best movie out there, and I also need to see the rest.


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## Darksong (Nov 12, 2009)

Oddly, I've seen all of the above except Princess Mononoke and Grave of the Fireflies.

I've also seen Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and The Cat Returns, which is my favorite. I believe that's from Studio Ghibli.

I also really liked Ponyo for some reason. :3


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## Notoriously Unknown (Nov 12, 2009)

Darksong said:


> The Cat Returns


Yes. I love this movie. Sure it's got quite an obviouse Mary Sue in it and the storyline is a bit over done, but I just like it. Maybe t's the cat element, I dunno.

OH. YEAH. MIYAZAKI. Well I've seen everything mentioned here so far except for Ponyo which I really want to see. Spirited Away is ranked high on my favorite movies list, it's really nostalgic for me and the art is simply awesome.
I'm a big fan of Miyazaki, his films are just so fanciful and great. X3


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## ultraviolet (Nov 12, 2009)

I've only seen Howl's Moving Castle and I loved it.


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## Momoharu (Nov 12, 2009)

Lol, Castle In The Sky's the only one I watched, and it was pretty cool.  Gotta watch the rest, this guy seems to be a stellar scriptwriter/animator/whatever else.


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## DonKarasuMan (Nov 12, 2009)

I've seen and do own the Chinese versions (with Japanese as an option, but not English) all the movies, except for 'The Cat Returns'.

I'll say my favourites would be 'Princess Mononoke' and 'Pom Poko'. I'll place 'Only Yesterday' and 'Ponyo' high on my list, as well as 'Spirited Away' and 'Howl's Moving Castle', but I've seen the latter two so many times now (especially 'Spirited Away') that they've become a bit boring for me.


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## Aisling (Nov 12, 2009)

I grew up on _My Neighbor Totoro_. Fox Dub for the win!!

_Castle in the Sky_ is another favorite of mine... makes me feel nostalgic. I only first saw it a couple years ago but it made me feel this... kind of happy sad emptiness. Like I saw it too late? Something's missing? I dunno. It's really odd.

_Howl's Moving Castle_ is what made me rediscover Miyazaki, though. There was a review for it in an issue of People magazine opposite of a folding ad, so it was the first page I'd flipped to. I thought it looked interesting, looked into it, and fell in love. Up until then I hadn't realized that _Howl's Moving Castle_ was directed by the same guy that did _My Neighbor Totoro_...

... and also the same guy who wrote that manga there was an ad for in an old Pokemon manga I had when I was little. _Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind_ has to be my favorite work of Miyazaki's, hands down. As far as his movies go, _Howl's_ and _Totoro_ are kind of tied.

I've yet to see Ponyo, but my mom has seen part of it online and she says it's very good. I really need to go find it.

Also, I have a box of Howl's stuff. :v The novel, some figurines, the "Art of" book, Turnip Head keychain, Calcifer charms, and the magazine I first read about it in...



Darksong said:


> I've also seen Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and The Cat Returns, which is my favorite. I believe that's from Studio Ghibli.


Yeah. _The Cat Returns_ isn't Miyazaki, and neither is _Whisper of the Heart_, the movie that the cat is from... which is in turn based on a manga, I dunno how that all works out. They are Ghibli though, and I do adore Whisper of the Heart.

Now that you've watched _Nausicaa_, go _read_ it. Like, now.


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## Dannichu (Nov 12, 2009)

I've seen most of the Ghibli movies, certianly all of the "mainstream" ones. They're absolutely stellar <3
My favourite is probably Howl's Moving Castle, though I adore My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service. And all the others that aren't on my favourites list are still damn awesome. The only Ghibli movie I've seen that I didn't absolutely love was Tales from Earthsea, which... I dunno, lacked Hayao's magic. Grave of the Fireflies (I'm not the only one who always calls it Cave of the Dragonflies, am I?), was one of the saddest films I've ever seen, but it was still utterly beautiful. I really like the music in all the films, and how, if something's not mean to be pretty (like the Witch of the Waste in HMC), they really don't make it pretty. But the locations are almost all absolutely gorgeous and the animation is brilliant.

I also _love_ how Miyazaki writes awesome female characters :D


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## spaekle (Nov 12, 2009)

Howl's Moving Castle is amazing. <3 I'll have to read the novel sometime. (I was actually really surprised when I found out it wasn't Miyazaki's original concept, because the whole movie is like, _right up his alley_.)


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## Stormecho (Nov 12, 2009)

The novel is great~ Um. Princess Mononoke is my favourite, and I've seen... 1/2 of My Neighbour Totoro, 1/2 of Grave of the Fireflies (which is just too sad. D:), all of Spirited Away and... yeah. Haven't seen Howl's Moving Castle, so I need to buy both it and the book, reread the book and then watch the movie immediately afterwards. x3


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## foreign contaminant (Nov 13, 2009)

howl's moving castle was okay as a novel. i've not yet seen the movie, but i remembered enough to be able to say that it follows it pretty accurately.

my neighbor totoro is probably my favorite movie, ever. i grew up on the fox dub, too! crappy voice acting hollaaaaaa


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## FireChao (Nov 13, 2009)

MIYAZAKI IS AWESOME!

Pom Poko is a great Ghibli film too, even though it's not Miyazaki...



Spaekle Oddberry said:


> (I was actually really surprised when I found out it wasn't Miyazaki's original concept, because the whole movie is like, _right up his alley_.)


He changed it a lot...


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## Aisling (Nov 14, 2009)

foreign contaminant said:


> howl's moving castle was okay as a novel. i've not yet seen the movie, but i remembered enough to be able to say that it follows it pretty accurately.
> 
> my neighbor totoro is probably my favorite movie, ever. i grew up on the fox dub, too! crappy voice acting hollaaaaaa


Awesome Catbus sounds hollaaaaaa

In the movie Howl doesn't get drunk at his rugby club reunion, actually the real world doesn't exist ): He gets to turn into a kickass bird though


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## foreign contaminant (Nov 14, 2009)

Alraunne said:


> Awesome Catbus sounds hollaaaaaa


_NO_

having watched the sub, i can't stand what they did to totoro and the catbus. i'm not generally anal about sub vs. dub, but i just.. cannot accept this. but i _can_ accept that you do.. i'm not trying to be an ass or anything about it.

i haven't watched most miyazaki movies, though.. spirited away, totoro, and nausicaa are the only ones i've seen all of. i love them all though, enough to know that i'd want to see the rest.


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## Harlequin (Nov 14, 2009)

<3 Spirited Away, Mononoke, Nausicaa, Howl's Moving Castle


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## Aisling (Nov 14, 2009)

Oh, Totoro does sound better in the original- I haven't actually watched it subbed. D:; First time I ever heard the originals. embarrassment

I like the Fox dub catbus the best though. It actually sounds like it's part bus. Like if a bus meowed, I think it'd sound like the Fox catbus.


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## Storm Earth and Fire (Nov 14, 2009)

Notoriously Unknown said:


> Yes. I love this movie. Sure it's got quite an obviouse Mary Sue in it and the storyline is a bit over done, but I just like it. Maybe t's the cat element, I dunno.


I too loved The Cat Returns. Sometimes, you just want a bit of simplicity, that's my explanation.


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## Blaziking the God General (Nov 14, 2009)

Miyazaki is amazing. <3

I've seen Nausicaa, My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle.

Nausicaa is my favorite, for some reason. I only saw it once, but it easily tops the list as my favorite. The rest are all tied for second place. Spirited Away was the first Miyazaki film I saw, and I've seen it about five times and loved it every time. My Neighbor Totoro is absolutely amazing because TOTORO AND CATBUS ARE POSSIBLY THE COOLEST THINGS EVER. Castle in the Sky was really cool, especially towards the end. Princess Mononoke was just spectacular. Howl's Moving Castle is just...amazing beyond words.


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## Aisling (Nov 14, 2009)

Has nobody else here _read_ Nausicaa? ):

The manga is _monumentally_ better. Words cannot describe.

i am disapoint


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## Coloursfall (Nov 14, 2009)

Alraunne said:


> Has nobody else here _read_ Nausicaa? ):
> 
> The manga is _monumentally_ better. Words cannot describe.
> 
> i am disapoint


I have! :3

Haven't seen the movie though.

Also Howl's Moving Castle = <3


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## foreign contaminant (Nov 15, 2009)

i've only not read nausicaa because i can't find the manga where i live. the library stocks it, but kids at the library tend to mistreat books beyond words. i don't trust those..

there's a lot of 11 books on ebay now, but i'm guessing those are 32-pagers and not actual _volumes_. :/ i'll stick it out. i really want to read this and phoenix.


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## Aisling (Nov 15, 2009)

I have all of them- I ordered them off of some place online and recieved all of them but number 4, which I received unannounced about a year later. To fill in the gap between volume 3 and 5 I downloaded it all in a PDF- I don't know where I found this PDF but it's bound to be on my computer somewhere still.

I currently know of two places online where you can read it, but one is missing sections for some reason, and the other is also missing sections but has the parts that the first place was missing. Sounds like too much trouble for me.

Anybody want me to try fishing around on my computer?

edit: Just found it, that wasn't so hard. It's the "Perfect Collection" edition Viz published in five volumes, rather than the other printing I have that was in seven volumes. The translation is the same between the two, but the perfect collection version has been flipped and reads left to right like American comics. Anyone want me to upload it somewhere?


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## #1 bro (Nov 15, 2009)

I've seen Spirited Away (beyond amazing, in like... every way, ever), Castle in the Sky (also awesome), My Neighbor Totoro (cute, I guess), and Howl's Moving Castle (just... confusing, but I saw it when I was like 11 so).


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## Aisling (Nov 15, 2009)

Now that I think back (Zeta mentioning how old he was when he saw HMC kind of made me think about it for some reason- it doesn't seem like that long ago but it really has been that long, huh?), I remember my first lucid dream actually involved Howl, a few months after I saw the movie... I didn't have another one until a couple months ago, which involved Kurotowa and ended up being a lot more scandalous. D:

So two out of three dreams I became lucid in had Miyazaki characters in it. I think I might be on to something.


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## spaekle (Nov 15, 2009)

<3

I looked everywhere for Miyazaki movies today and finally found a modest selection of them at a Border's. Ended up buying Howl and Nausicaa; I almost bought Spirited away, too, but I wanted to have at least some money left over. That's the same reason I didn't buy the Nausicaa graphic novels; I think they had all of them though. :v



> Howl's Moving Castle (just... confusing, but I saw it when I was like 11 so).


Yeah, I was the same way with a lot of Miyazaki's movies; I didn't like them when I was younger because I didn't understand them. There's a lot of symbolism and artistic value, and some of the messages I think are a bit hard for kids to get. But a lot of people see these movies as kids and then say that "the dude who made that had to be on drugs" because they didn't get it. It's kind of sad. :[ 

Of course, he has things like Totoro and Kiki that are a lot more kid-oriented, but yeah.


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## BynineB (Nov 15, 2009)

I've seen all of those and I loved every one, Kiki's Delivery Service being my favorite. Really, his movies are simply magical, and I can't wait to see his next!


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## Momoharu (Nov 16, 2009)

So I watched Howl's Moving Castle and I'm all happy and giddy and positive about life now!

 May all your bacon burn!


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## FireChao (Nov 16, 2009)

it is a pretty terrifying curse...


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